ELCC Standards for District Leadership: Standard 1
Standard: A district-level education leader applies knowledge that promotes the success of every student by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a shared district vision of learning through the collection and use of data to identify district goals, assess organizational effectiveness, and implement district plans to achieve district goals; promotion of continual and sustainable district improvement; and evaluation of district progress and revision of district plans supported by district stakeholders.
My Interpretation of the Standard: Standard 1 represents the district leader's ability to think in terms of the system, as well as the individual parts that contribute to the system. Standard 1 also addresses the district leader's ability to involve stakeholders in the process of developing and implementing the goals of the district - always keeping the district moving forward towards increased student achievement and realized goals.
Functions:
- Candidates understand and can collaboratively develop, articulate, implement, and steward a shared district vision of learning for a school district.
- Candidates understand and can collect and use data to identify district goals, assess organizational effectiveness, and implement district plans to achieve district goals.
- Candidates understand and can promote continual and sustainable district improvement.
- Candidates understand and can evaluate district progress and revise district plans supported by district stakeholders.
Evidence of Mastery:
- Entry Plan: It all started with my Entry Plan... I was selected as the new superintendent for the Sitka School District in February of 2014, with my start date to be July 1, 2014. In the summer of 2014 I began my 2-year Superintendent Endorsement Certificate program, and one of the first big projects we did was to create an Entry Plan. I am so very thankful that the timing worked out as it did, as the Entry Plan helped me to be thoughtful and systemic in how I moved from being assistant superintendent to superintendent in the same school district; it helped me, as well as others, acclimate to my new role.
- Strategic Plan: Sitka Schools has a unique Strategic Planning process, which began under the leadership of then Superintendent Steve Bradshaw. Instead of doing a plan that is unconnected to the rest of the work we do, we tied the Strategic Plan to 2 School Board Goals. A stakeholder team of district and community members selects 2 School Board Goals, and then a sub-group of the stakeholder group develops Action Research questions and projects to implement to help us achieve and measure progress towards the each of the identified goals. We select 2 goals because that is our capacity to do meaningful projects. Each cycle takes 2-years with the first year being the identification of the 2 goals, an examination of the district's Vision, Mission, and Values, and the development of the Action Research questions and projects. The second year is focused on the implementation and assessment of the Action Research projects. We are currently in our second cycle of using this method for our Strategic Plan. Some artifacts that can help to understand our process includes a PowerPoint for this cycle, an example of our first round of Action Research Agendas/Questions, and Cover Stories for our Vision, Mission, and Values, Wooch.een Preschool Program, and Professional Development that share the impact and lessons learned from our first cycle of implementation.
Summary: In summary, given the evidence I have presented, I believe I have met or exceeded the expectations for Standard 1.